This proposal seeks continued support for the development and continuation of an interdisciplinary regional Center for Research in Oral Biology. The central goal or purpose of the Center is to assist in the national effort to reduce the toll of oral disease and to promote the general level of oral health. The Center can help attain this goal by developing and supporting meritorious and relevant research projects, by creating an intellectual and physical environment conducive to optimal research productivity, by providing opportunities for significant interaction between investigators with diverse backgrounds, by producing both basic and applied knowledge related to the oral region, and by encouraging the incorporation of relevant research findings into dental education, dental practice, and the surrounding community. The types of projects to be supported have been the subject of intensive discussion within the Center and within the committee appointed by the Vice President for Health Affairs to study the future pattern of the Center. The initial emphasis continues to be on basic research - research into biological mechanisms - with the hope that basic research findings will be translatable and translated into clinical and public health dental practice. In general, the Center will support basic research related to soft tissues and to periodontal diseases, and applied research related to the delivery of oral health care.